Survival of the Fittest
by HylianWolfos94
Summary: It is a sport that has long been debated against- the hunting of forest monsters. Today on the borders of Hyrule's forest, Lost Woods, two hunters come in search of beasties. A wolfos, a few deku… It's been a successful day of hunting so far! But one more wouldn't hurt, right? Or… Would it, indeed, hurt a lot? T for graphic violence.
The evening had been full of terror on the inner-borders of the woods of Hyrule. In these woods today, anything short of a Kokiri was fair game for hunting. The woods were still out of fear. One could hear a ghost in these haunting winds if they listened hard enough.
Once upon a time, these woods had a guardian against poachers- a deku of great courage and determination. She was fierce, and legends said she spat fire. It had been eight years now that she disappeared. Some forest folk assumed wolfos had gotten her. Some proclaimed she returned to an old home she once missed... Many others say she ran away with another deku from the woods to seek a sanctuary up north. All that was fact was that the forest entry was no longer guarded from these poachers and supposedly not a trace of her was left in these woods...

With the inner borders no longer guarded by this fire-spitting deku, poachers were now at its woodland fence-sides. Deku were a high-demand for their deku nuts and wooden skin among other forest creatures. Deku nuts were a high-seller in towns, and the skins were used often by travelers for easy fire mats. It was a farce long debated over. No one knew what to do of these poachers, because in this day and age it's never specified what deku count as. Short of deku merchants, deku are typically dumb beasts in the eyes of an everyday villager. The smarter deku of the woods knew what people thought of them and knew to stay within lost woods. Young deku and mad scrubs...? They were not so fortunate...

The ones on the hunt today was a hylian man- well in his mid thirties, with another man of a younger age in his early-to-mid twenties. The elder man was an experienced hunter. The younger of the two was rather new to the whole thing. The younger hylian held a bow in hand, while the oldest bore a knife and a sword. They were sheathed at his sides and currently not in use.  
Quiet as a mouse, the eldest lead the charge as they crept through the borderlands. It was getting late into the day and they were about ready to head out. However, noise was the only cause of them staying. The eldest was currently leading a small cart around with a white tarp over it, while the youngest held the leashes of two dogs in his free hand.  
"Kenzin, I think we should go. We have a wolfos and two mad scrubs already." the eldest spoke.  
"Hang on, we may be able to get one more in for the day. Besides, we still have some traps set. What if we get something else?" the youngest replied in a whisper. "We've been rather lucky today, Frolen. I think we should hang around."

Frolen tossed his gaze around the area. He thought he heard a rustle in some brush nearby. He couldn't quite tell which direction however... He then replied, standing close to Kenzin so he could continue whispering. "It doesn't matter if we get anything. If something triggers the traps, I can assure you we wont be losing anything overnight. We should come back in the morning. Besides, it's at night that the monsters start getting brave- and night will fall soon."  
"Just one more... There's one nearby, I can feel it. And so can these fellas." Kenzin finished, petting a dog's head. The canine panted in delight at the interaction before promptly returning to surveying the area. Frolen furrowed his brows at Kenzin's stubbornness.

"If I can reel in one more, I can finally make enough rupees to get some better gear. Not only that, but I got mouths to feed y'know." Kenzin added on in a whisper.  
Frolen put down the cart quietly, placing a hand casually on the hilt of his sword. "Well, then go ahead and patrol the area. I'm taking a rest... My ankle's killing me, so I'm pretty much done for the day. We got enough monsters to haul back to town, so just know _you're_ dragging this thing back. That wolfos weighs a ton."

Unbeknownst to the Hylians, they had a guest following them around. The little creature's eyes peered out of a nearby bush from behind the cart, clear out of sight of the hunters. At a glance, these eyes would seem dangerous and full of wild spirit. Once it was sure it wouldn't be noticed, it walked out from around the bush. It had a small wooden body, short fat legs and bulbous feet. It had thick little arms with chubby hands with a full set of five fingers on both. It would look like a typical armed deku scrub to a person. It had a head full of fat, succulent leaves. The leaves veiled down the monster's head and over its back and a little over it's shoulders. It was a wild looking little creature full of curiosity. Its succulent leaves did not rattle like a typical scrub's would- making it easy for the monster to sneak up behind the men and their cargo.

With the utmost care, it crept toward the cart from behind. When Kenzin made a fast movement, the deku scrub jolted in place and held back a startled squeak and crouched to the ground on both hands, taking up a defensive hiding position. It covered itself in it's own leaves, appearing to be a strange looking plant. Upon realizing it wasn't noticed, the plant beast stood back up and listened to the hylians converse. With a flick of a leaf and a tilt of the head, it appeared to be slightly confused by their conversation- though it understood speech quite clearly. Kenzin and Frolen wouldn't know that, however.  
It placed a hand on one of the cart's two wheels, leaning on it and standing under the wooden transportation vehicle to remain hidden. Other forest creatures had run from these guys, but why? This one deku scrub was curious, for they didn't seem bad. The other deku and forest residents spoke of them like they were demons, here to reap them all away like crops in a field. It seemed they only had good intent for their kind, so what was the matter? It continued listening, hearing them talk about hunting monsters. The leaves on its head perked up, thinking "Maybe they'll rid the woods of wolfos?" for they counted as monsters. Little did the naive scrub know, deku scrubs also counted as monsters.

Continuing to eavesdrop, its attention was pulled away when a single leaf fell in front of it from above. Without noise, the deku scrub stepped back and pondered over the leaf. It was peculiar and didn't match any of the trees nearby... It looked up, surveying the area. It was then the scrub noticed a few leaves poking out from the cart. Did they chop down a tree? The scrub was through listening in on the conversation. It was time to get even more curious!

It ran around the back of the cart and quietly hoisted itself up onto the bed of the cart. Not weighing much, the deku scrub didn't add much movement to the wooden wheeled contraption. The beast made sure that no one was watching then peeked under the tarp. It was momentarily startled when the first thing it saw was a gaped-open mouth full of sharp, gross-smelling teeth. The deku reeled back before realizing the beast was not moving. The scrub used the lighting of its glowing red eyes to examine it, seeing that it was a large wolfos. And it was very dead. Taking the chance, the plant-like monster ran a chubby hand over the creature's face. It's fur was soft. Best part? It wouldn't kill anything for touching it. The deku scrub gave a small smile, knowing these people were doing just as it thought. There wasn't anything to be afraid of!

Seeing the wolfos in the cart, it began to wonder how many more they'd killed. It peeked in further, having trouble seeing past the hind legs of the wild canine. The deku scrub saw something, but what? What other interesting beasts were in here? It managed to pull the tarp up a slight for better lighting. The hylians had wandered just a bit away from the cart when the scrub poked its head up to make sure. It then looked back down and continued looking. What was that? It looked like a pile of leaves. That's right! That's why it had come up here! To see what kind of plant or tree they'd thrown in here. Upon closer inspection, it was more along the lines of a tree or bush with it's thick, wood body.  
Wait, body? The fire-glowing eyes of the small beast widened a little, thinking maybe it was seeing things. But as the light settled in on this shrubbery, it became even more clear. Under these leaves was the sad, dead face of a mad scrub! The deku began to whimper, eyes growing wide in terror! Looking across from it, she saw another one.  
"No... No, t-they wouldn't..." the deku scrub softly whined. Why would these people KILL deku scrubs? The scrub backed out onto the bed of the cart again, softly whining in fear. It had stepped too far back and soon fell off the cart, landing on its back with a clear squeak.

The sound instantly caught the dog's ears, and they flew around and began barking. This startled the deku scrub, but it was too horrified to move! The hylians turned to see this monster laying on the ground, staring them down with angry, angled eyes. What had they done? Kenzin pulled his bow around, handing the leashes of the dogs to Frolen.  
"I told you there was another! It's a weird one, too!" Kenzin exclaimed. He momentarily looked at the cart, seeing part of the tarp pulled up. "What that-? Was it in the cart?"  
His attention was brought back to the deku scrub as it began moving. It slowly crept off the ground to its feet. It was hunched over with a defensive pose, like an animal ready to protect itself. It was lightning fast, giving no warning to the deku nut it shot at Kenzin's bow. The lad yelped and shut his eyes to keep himself from being blinded. He quickly placed an arrow in the bow and drew it back. He attempted to shoot the creature, but it had begun running by the time the light had flashed away. He let the arrow fly anyway, and it whacked straight through the deku scrub's leaves, just barely missing its head. It squeaked in panic from the shot, not knowing they, too, had dangerous projectiles! And these had _blades_ on them!

"Kenzin, why'd you just stare at it? You're lucky that nut didn't hit you in the face- it could've blinded you!" Frolen growled. He released the dogs, allowing them to give chase to the creature.  
Kenzin did not reply right away. Instead, he set off after the dogs and deku scrub. "I wont be letting it get away again, trust me! I got this!" Kenzin replied, trying to assure his _mentor_ that he had things under control. Frolen felt otherwise, however.

The silence of the evening deeper into the borders was deafening and uncertain to many deku hiding in their flowers. Up until a shrill squeak resounded after the sound of a fired deku nut explosion and a yelping dog. Mad scrubs and the like all flinched and hid as one young deku in particular ran for safety into the woods. Behind it as it pattered on relentlessly were hounds following in the deku's wake of falling autumn leaves. The young deku panted and squeaked in terror as it took wide steps with its big feet. It got WAY in over its head! Only thing making it a target was its unstoppable curiosity of the outside world and creatures that lived out in it. The scrub was quick to learn that these hylian creatures were dangerous.

This young deku appeared in the eyes of its hunters as a wild beast. In truth, it was a child of a rare breed, eight years of age and curious about the world. And she was nothing but a little girl. She was capable of speech, but fear drove her beyond words and into her instinctual, natural sounds of distress and terror. All that ran through her intelligent mind was "Must hide, must run, must find shelter!"

What were only two dogs sounded like a pack to the little nature child. Her face was covered and shadowed by her wild hair- her intense, flaming, glowing eyes only seeable and obviously full of fear.  
A dog came close behind her and nipped at her leaves. It caught and yanked for a second, but she was quick to rip her leaves from the beast's maw. Not without losing some leaves, but it was no true loss to her over her life. She dashed and leapt over obstacles, but the dogs did so just as flawlessly. They exceeded her in size and were growing near yet again. Far, far behind them were their masters. The little deku looked like a running succulent bush from what they were seeing.

But regardless of the pursuers, she recognized the path she was running and felt relief. If she kept going, there was a deku flower up ahead. She knew where all of the deku flowers were on the borders of the woods. She just prayed there wasn't already a deku hiding in it! She pattered and ran until the safety of the pink bloom came into view.  
She looked back, not even seeing the poachers anymore. The little girl and the dogs had outrun them. Surely they were back there, but too far back. She took this as a good chance to shoot the dogs. She popped one with a deku nut, making it squeal and yelp. The other got a face-full of bubbly goop. The dogs stopped to tend to their problems as the deku continued en route to sanctuary.

A smile filled her delighted spirit-lit eyes as she came to a stop by the big plant. It was so big and inviting. It was open and empty, just waiting for a deku to take shelter in it. She stared at it, but her delight was quickly cut by the sound of approaching dogs. She gasped and hopped into the center's hole, looking forward to relishing in the sweet, soft safety of the flower's blanketing walls.

Instead of relief however, she gave an ear-piercing shriek of pure agony! Just as the sound resounded through the woods, the dogs came to circle the flower. Hearing the obvious pain and terror, they peaked in and growled. The deku cried and squeaked uncontrollably. She was caught in something, and every move she made just added to her suffering. She felt as if she'd die from the pain that, literally, surrounded her whole upper body.

Nearby deku hunkered further into their flowers in horror. The haunting sounds of pain was a sign that yet another sad soul had been caught in a flower trap. But they were too scared to go and help, and some cared not to- only for their own safety. Forest critters scurried further into the woods where humans would never dare to go. The little deku was left on her own.  
She squirmed and cried, but something began shredding and tearing her leaves the more she moved. Once her succulent leaves were left as a mangled mess to no longer obstruct her back, the sharp razors that tore her leaves pierced into the young deku's developing skin on her back. It embraced her shoulders and around her shoulder blades like a thorned vine of cool metal. She tried desperately to keep her chest away from these sharp objects. Upon closer inspection, the thing attacking her was a man-made object. A metal wire with many, many sharp barbs. Pressing away from the front wires only caused the barbed wire behind her to grind into her thin-skinned back and she screamed.

"Make it stop! No, please let me go!" she squeaked and begged. Dogs nipped in at her if she moved near the top of the flower to escape. She was cornered and trapped, but right now she _wished_ for death. Nothing could be worse than the agony she was enduring right now. She was going into a deep panic and everything was becoming blurred. She had fallen prey to her instinct- there were hundreds of thoughts flying through her mind. Her mind and heart was racing, but all thoughts were too scattered to grasp. Each one slipped away in place for a new one. It'd always end with "Am I going to die? Am I going to die? Will this be my last moment?"  
She wheezed and huffed, but she never stopped trying. But it only mangled her more. Her wild instinct was not letting her stop; she continued fighting like a trapped animal- only making the damage worse. But she couldn't help! Fear gripped her, and all she wanted was to be free of this metal-vined cage. She growled and whined, but to no avail did the wires let go. It eventually got to the point where sound was no longer reaching her. The barbed wire imbedded into her back and continued to tear across from within. She tried desperately to pull away, but she only got more tangled. By now, the wire was jammed into her back. She was lost in her terror and will to get free. Her eyes grew dark with pure instinct and she shot a nut up into the open mouth of a barking dog. It yelped and moved away from the pain. She was not able to think straight any longer, she just wanted help.

The men were outside the flower by now preparing to bring in the wild scrub. Frolen held the dogs back and Kenzin reached in for the tiny squirming creature. Upon seeing Kenzin reach for the deku scrub, Frolen called out, "Hey! Don't just reach in there! Where's your common sense lad? That thing could have a deku nut at the ready!"  
Kenzin peered down into the flower, seeing the creature squirm and squeak in pain. Her eyes were wide and wild, not even able to comprehend that the hylians were there. The younger of the two waved casually at Frolen. "I know what I'm doing, I've done this many times before."  
"Put it out of its misery with your bow before untangling it, you imbecile!" Frolen scolded. "Ugh, boy..."  
"I don't think it's capable of doing much harm... It's a small little thing." Kenzin finished.

Kenzin reached in around the monster, seeing that the trap Frolen had carefully wrapped inside the flower was torn off the walls and mangled together. This made him wince a bit, but continued to pull the scrub out. He kept mental note to wrap the inside of the flower again later... He untangled the barbed wire from inside and pulled her out. She just continued to flail and shriek in terror. All she could grasp was that something was coming in contact with her, but instinct drove her beyond realizing that she was in real danger in these hands. The men did not know of just how civil the child was- or that she was a child period. All they really knew was it was another monster to get rid of.

Frolen was holding the dogs now and tied them to a nearby tree and pulled out his knife. The young deku finally took a look around, seeing the man draw the sharp object and she finally snapped beyond the point of no return. Kenzin unwrapped the barbed wire from around the monster. Tearing the barbs out of her mangled back caused her to squeak and cry in agony. It was stuck rather deep, and this was just too much for her to bear. Even Kenzin was wincing at it as he removed the wire from around her. She really got it mangled in deep. The young man started to feel pity for the creature. Usually they would kill it before getting it out of the flower, so this was... Hard to watch. Part of him scolded himself for not listening to Frolen. The scrub was really suffering, so killing it would have done it a favor. Kenzin made another mental note, given he was still quite the hunting newbie.

He removed the rest and tossed it aside. And now that she was free, she finally did something about it. Her rage-filled, terror driven eyes locked onto the man's face and she gave an unnatural growl- unnatural for the deku of these woods, that is. He only got a glimpse of these dagger-sharp furnace windows upon the monster's shadowed-out face for a second before his own face was pelted with a slime or goop of some kind.

He cried out in agony and dropped the tiny creature. She yelped and Kenzin fell to the ground screaming and holding his face. " _It burns, it burns! Get it off!_  
"Did it just-!?" Frolen exclaimed. He tried to process what just happened, but he couldn't believe it. He turned to the little deku scrub and held the knife up. "You're one of those fire spitters! I thought it left a long time ago!" he turned to Kenzin to see him sitting up and holding his face in pain. It was indeed a burn! Frolen grit his teeth and furrowed his brows, lunging for the deku scrub. She slipped away from him and stopped a ways away, her body crouched and her hands on the ground. She was bristling her leaves up defensively. Her eyes were flared like wildfires, wide and watchful. The very center white of her eyes were tiny- of course such a detail would not be noticed from the intense glow she was giving.

The man thought he heard it hiss before he was nearly shot with a bubble. It flew passed him, hitting a tree and sizzling for a short while. He was quickly caught off guard when he turned back toward her to get a deku nut in the face. The deku fired shots uncontrollably out of defense. She stumbled and grunted, but didn't leave without frantically popping everything around her with goop and deku nuts. As the men tried to recover, the deku ran for her life into the far woods far beyond where they would dare to follow. And she would continue running until her legs no longer could and till she fell ill from her injuries... It was unknown to her what would happen to her hunters, but it was no concern to her at this point... She knew she'd taken care of them, but she wasn't fully aware of her having spat _acid_. She was in too much of a panic to have really noticed.

It felt like the longest trek she'd ever made. She wasn't able to make it to any fully secure shelter, but the open area of a tree's trunk at its feet would have to do... The deku was on her hands and knees by now and she crawled in and curled into a painful ball at the back. Her eyes were locked open, wide and watchful. Her heart pounded like a small freight train in her chest and she cried. Her once long, wild leaves were torn, short, and damaged.  
Her gown of leaves were ripped to nothing covered in her own sap, herself wounded and vulnerable. The plant child was still high on instinctive fear even as she rested safe from the area of the crime. She huffed and puffed, but as her instinct simmered down, realization of her injuries returned. She stared at her clothing of leaves as they sat scattered on the ground. Her body was wrapped in sticky crimson; her very back ripped and mangled beyond recovery from being wrapped in the barbed wire. She was bare, and she was no longer fine.

She sat in agony. The pain was so intense, that she could not even scream… All she could do was silently whine as tears washed down her soft wooden face, washing away the bloodstains in their wake. What remained of the child's innocence and courage was torn down and left scattered. She was to never be the same again.

It felt as if she'd laid there for hours. Tears washed down her face more even as time went on and she ne'er moved an inch. But she knew she'd eventually have to try to tend to her horrific wounds. She kept asking herself on the inside if she was going to die. Every once in a while, a passing forest creature or beasty would look at her from the deep woods before passing through in fear. Their glowing eyes would make contact, and she'd pray they'd help. But they never did. In these woods, if one gets hurt, it is fend for yourself or die trying. Most are too busy trying to save their own skin.

Time eased on and she remained where she was, wallowing in her suffering. The child was traumatized and scared. She just trembled in the dark hollow of which she sat, peering out into the woods with heavy breaths. She was scared those scary hunters had followed her, but she was being ignorant to the fact that the woods were cursed for humans whom were dumb enough to traverse through. She was safe from them, just not from monsters...  
The sap started to dry on her back, but the wounds were tore clean open. They stung unbearably. The cold air hit them, which brought some discomfort. And with these nasty wounds open, she didn't realize just how strong a scent she was giving off with her blood.  
By the hour, the child became unresponsive to a lot of things. Her eyes were locked open, staring hard out into the woods as if eternally waiting for something. Or perhaps watching like a timid deer for something to end her. It wasn't until the sudden rapid sound of wings fluttering in the tree branches above that she was startled. She was scared from her gaze and brought into a terrified panic internally. However, on the outside, the most movement she made was startled twitching and throwing her focus around frantically. The flame of her eyes flared like a wildfire and she whimpered.

She growled and cried, trying hard to make herself look difficult to approach. It wouldn't work however... She was clearly too injured to help herself much. She huddled against the inner walls of the her hideaway and she glared glassy fires upward when the frantic flapping got louder. A bird finally landed outside the hole and the child hissed out of fear. It was a fairly large black bird of prey- large enough to startle someone. The bird cocked its head at her from the entrance of the hole as the deku slowly brought herself to a calm. She continued to cry however, having caused herself pain from moving. When she moved, it felt like someone was trying to repetitively tear her back open.  
"What's all the ruckus over here, eh?" called... The bird? The deku scrub's ripped up leaves twitched in utter confusion and her eyes widened a bit. She focused her gaze on the bird hard until she noticed something else with it... Or someone! Sitting on the bird's back was a tiny person. The deku growled lowly again, and it grew as the person moved their "steed" toward her.

"Oh hush now, I'm not scared of you." the tiny person laughed. The scrub was clearly in pain, but she stiffened and her leaves bristled. She pushed herself to the back wall, having never seen such an odd creature before. Once the bird was as close as they'd be willing to get, the tiny person hopped off and walked over toward the deku scrub. He craned his neck back to gaze up to this towering-tiny creature. She trembled and shook, glaring and groaning in both intimidation and pain.

"Calm down, child-scrub, I can't possibly hurt you." the tiny creature comforted kindly. The little man looked much like a light tan-skinned mouse with pointy ears, adorable large black eyes, a bushy feathered tail dipped in green, and a garb made of tiny pelts- probably from small rodents, and leaves. He wore an acorn shell on his head with a tiny bird plume on it sticking out from the back. The deku scrub remained still as the little man walked around her, gently climbing parts of the grotto to get a high view. He then snarled his face and winced before hopping down.  
"I thought I smelled some odd sap in here, but I'd have never guessed it was a deku scrub. You're more mangled than a sheep at a wolfos family reunion!"  
The tiny scrub glared softly as she had before. However, she was no longer growling, just breathing heavy. The tiny man inched close and tilted his head. "What did this to you? Can you speak?"  
The scrub darted her focus around herself, contemplating on whether she should trust this little mouse-like creature. But upon realizing no one else would even bother to show concern, she caved after he waited a long time for her to show any signs of vocal intelligence.  
"... I... I..." she tried talking, but words were lost on her. Her voice was cracking and timid. "It w-was... It w-w-was h-humans... They c-chased me to a f-flower t-that tried to e-eat me..."  
The individual grunted. "Humans... Ugh... Some of them are so stupid... You got caught in a barbed wire deku trap, didn't you?" he assumed he was correct, given her wounds wrapped around her body. A tear streamed down her face, which was answer enough. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates- much to her unawareness. She was scared and in pain.

"You are clearly more civilized than you look. Do you have a name? I'd hate to just call you Deku Scrub." the little man asked. She hunkered down... She didn't want to talk... But she replied after a short while.  
"M-my name...? My n-n-name is I-Iris..." she sniffled, rubbing her face with a scratched hand. The mouse-like creature gave a quick nod, before asking where her folks were. Iris replied lowly. "I d-don't have a f-family."  
"Oh dear." the mouse replied. "So you're on your own then, eh? Bother, bother... Well, you mustn't just sit here and wait for something else to find you. Why, had a wolfos or moblin smelled you, you'd be dead right now."  
The little girl brought her sights to peer out of the hole under the tree, out in the open to see if things were clear. She tried moving, but she gave a shrill squeak in pain and she stumbled forward onto her belly and chin- crying in agony.  
"C'mon little one, you can do it..." the tiny creature cheered on softly.  
" _I can't!_ " Iris snapped with a sobbing growl. " _It hurts!_ "  
The little fella lowered his brow in a saddened manner. "You gotta move to somewhere safer... I know the perfect place where you can stay till you heal. You just gotta tough it out and let me get that all wrapped up." the mouse turned to his bird companion and called. "Get me some sheep's vine, pronto!"

The black bird cawed in accordance to the order before flying away. It was then the creature turned to Iris and continued trying to encourage her. "You can't lay around with your back all torn open, it'll get infected. You need to sit up, just long enough to move from this spot."  
"N-nnooo... I-I can't..." she continued to sob. "Just kill me already!"  
"No! I would do no such thing! Besides, do I look capable of killing anything larger than I rat? I don't think so."  
Iris just remained on the ground, sobbing and burying her face and soft snout into her thick arms. She just wanted to be put out of it and die, she didn't want to move. The little creature bit his lip, seeing as this stressed movement was making her bleed sap a little heavier.  
"You're going to bleed to death, now get up!" he ordered softly. She turned an eye to look at him and she huffed heavily. Her eyes were welled in pain and she squinted and furrowed her little brows. She tried again, but the sharp pain forced her back down and she squeaked. She stayed there for a few moments and whined, but brought herself to her hands again. Iris trembled violently and pinned her leaves back, squinting her eyes from moving so much. Her back gashes were wide open from her bending, and it was far too much to bear. Tears streaked her cheeks, but she kept herself up on her hands and elevated from the earthy ground below herself. Squeaks and pained whines got more prominent as she tried sitting upright. She tried straightening her back, but that in itself was just too much.

"It's alright, just sit in what ever way is comfortable. Just don't lay down again." the creature spoke, standing in front of Iris. "Don't worry, ol' Rispario here will get you all wrapped up..."  
She had a headache from all the crying and squinting, but she couldn't help it. She sniffled and nodded slowly. This brought a frown to Rispario's face and he hopped up on a root sticking out of the wall next to Iris. His tiny hand ran down Iris' soft skin on her arm. "You poor thing... You're lucky you made it out alive, not many do when they encounter poachers. Ugh, that should be made illegal... I guess us forest folk aren't considered people."  
"W-why?" Iris' tiny voice squeaked. "B-but I-I've never harmed them before... W-why do they w-ant to kill m-me?"  
"Child, you've never been educated, have you?" the little guy began. "Huma-" Rispario was cut off when his avian friend showed up with a long tape-like vine. "Oh! Gyza, you found some? Thank you!"  
The bird gave the end of the vine to Rispario and he hopped onto Iris' shoulder. "Child, can you hold this end? Hold it under your arms so I can wrap it around. It's only for now till we get to where we're going. We need to get you cleaned up."

Iris nodded softly and did as told. The bird helped hold the other end for Rispario and he began pulling it around her- much to his displeasure, for he was small and up close and personal with those gross gashes. He silently snarled at them and covered them with the scarf-like vine. Iris rubbed her fingers over the end she was holding, finding comfort in it. It was not a normal vine. It was pale green and flat with soft white hairs on both sides. It was soft like kitten fur, which was nice. The vine was pretty. With the white hairs, it looked like it was coated in frost or snow.  
"This is a good medicinal vine. This should help for now..." he replied. Gyza was helping him wrap it. Iris winced at this, but tried not to move...  
"Now, about those humans... Humans hunt animals and deku scrubs here in the woods. Well, on the borders of the woods anyway... You may be a bit young to know, but better now than never... You see, deku scrubs and deku babas are hunted for deku nuts, the nut glands, and deku scrubs specifically for their skin. The skin is easily flammable and stays lit for long, long periods. Those sickos sell pelts to shops and call them fire mats. A lot of shops don't know what the skins are made of. If someone were to speak up, maybe things would change? Ugh... That was almost you had you not gotten away."

This made Iris' eyes widen and she whimpered. "B-but... W-why are humans so bad? That's... That's terrible..."  
"Don't get me wrong, not all humans are bad... But there are many who would downright hunt a folk of the woods. They're ignorant to how we really are. It's a disgusting world out there, sadly. One day, the forest guardian will stand up to them! I just know it! Someone will change how things are, we just gotta stay alive and keep hope, y'know?"  
Iris looked down and whined. Why would someone do such things? But most deku are just not considered people...  
"Anyway, let's change the subject, shall we?" Rispario began. He pushed passed a thick, torn leaf. He looked at it curiously. It was soft and round, and the inside where it was diced was moist like a succulent plant. "What kind of deku are you? You don't look like the kind that are naturally bred for these woods."  
"I-I don't know... I was born here, but I was never told what I was... I guess I never asked."  
"Hmmm... Safe to say, you're a kind made for hotter places, but you don't look like an acid spitter."  
"Acid spitter?" Iris repeated, flicking a leaf.  
Rispario called Gyza over to help him wrap a vine over Iris' shoulder. "You never heard the legends? There used to be a very powerful deku in these woods. Her name escapes me, but people called her the fire-breathing scrub. She was an acid spitter that migrated to Lost Woods. Acid spitters have leaves much like yours, but their heads are really oddly shaped and their feet are tiny. They also usually only have three fingers." he paused to look over Iris' shoulder. "Features you clearly lack. Can you spit acid?" he questioned.  
Iris thought back, but she couldn't recall if she could or not. She shook her head with a small "I don't think so."  
"I thought maybe you were related before, but it's clear you have far too many differences. Besides, that scrub was very different! She wouldn't have bred with any of the deku here- they were all far too scared of her to even try courting her, haha!"  
For an unspoken reason, Iris felt a bit let down to hear that. Rispario finished up tying the makeshift bandaging and sighed. "Man, that was a lot of work..." he then hopped off her and wiped his hands.

"Rispario, w-what are you?" she asked quietly. The fella turned to her then chuckled.  
"I'm a minish! Don't see many of us, huh? Probably because we're so tiny. Why, we hide in many places! Now c'mon, we need to get you to safety and get you cleaned up. The bandage should slow down the bleeding till we get there."  
Iris dreaded moving, but she had to... She forced herself to her bulbous feet with effort. She stayed hunched over slightly, but she began moving to follow Rispario. He hopped onto Gyza's back and they lead her through the woods. It was a slow travel given Iris' injuries, but it didn't stop her. The woods got thicker and the sky seemed to get darker. It was hard to tell if it was because of the sky or the canopy of trees... It was relaxing however. The ground was just nothing but green. Moss on rocks and trees, vines climbing everything, abundant grass. Iris had to ask herself when the traveling would end though...

"Just through these bushes and we're there! No one ever comes out here, but it's safe." Rispario spoke. He lead Iris through thick brush and on the other side was a large mound of vines just _covered_ in thorns. Iris looked to Rispario in question.  
"It doesn't look very safe..."  
"Ah, you just gotta look harder. Follow me!" he hopped off Gyza's back and walked to this giant mountain of thorned vines. He soon disappeared through one part and Iris reeled back. What was he doing? Gyza flew through as well, shocking her even more so. After staring for a while, Iris finally walked over and examined the area. Upon closer inspection, these vines they walked through were not thorned like the rest! They had small, soft protrusions that looked like thorns. She put her hand through. It was grown over thickly, but they could be moved. She split them apart and walked through.

Now inside, she could see the mountain of vines was in the shape of a dome. The tangled vine walls were feet thick and so secured, that even rain would have trouble fitting through them. There were still areas that could be leaky however, made clear by the still growing plants in here. There were bushes everywhere! Inside the dome was like an untouched garden and was rather pretty. She was in awe of the place. Looking to the right of the room, she could see another doorway, but it was becoming grown over in thorned vines, so getting through it would be hard... It lead outside to a side yard fenced in by walls of vines if she were to find a way out there.

"Over here!" called Rispario from the left of the dome. Iris turned to see Gyza perched in a bush by what appeared to be a large water flow coming in from under the vine wall. She made her way over, wincing still from her back. Upon getting closer, she saw Rispario sitting by the water.  
"We'll clean you up here. Gyza, help me take off those bandages. Sit down right here, Iris..." he patted the ground by the water, and she did as told.  
"What is this place?" Iris asked after sitting down.  
"You may remember me mentioning the acid spitter earlier today. Stories say she lived here."  
"What!? What if we get caught?"  
"Don't worry, she's been gone for a good eight years now. As you can see, this place hasn't been inhabited in a long time." he replied.

He and Gyza began unwrapping the bandage. It was fine till it started uncovering the wounds. They stuck to the wounds- which was painful for Iris. She winced and tried pulling away. This caused Rispario to nearly fall off her back.  
"Hold still now! It'll be over soon..."  
She stiffened up her body and squinted when he and Gyza peeled the vine off. The sticky sap made this a daunting task, but it needed to be done... She whined as they removed one last layer. Gyza took the vine and tossed it into some shallow water to wash it off.  
"Okay... Iris, I'm going to need your help with this one. Grab a leaf off that bush over there and cup some water in it. Hand it over your shoulder and run it down your back. Can you do that for me?"  
"Y-yeah..." she whined. She picked a leaf and cupped it with water. She did as told and ran the water down her back while Rispario rubbed the dried sap away with a cloth he had pocketed in his pants. It wasn't much given it was so tiny. But luckily, Iris was tiny as well, so the job would be a little shorter. Iris whimpered as he wiped around the wounds. She continued to fall water down her back, allowing it to stream across. It felt nice at least, but it didn't get rid of the pain.

Rispario was there cleaning her blood away for a while till the water had cleaned the wounds as good as it would allow. As he did this, Iris rinsed the vine they were using earlier till it was completely clean. Once the wounds could clearly be seen, Rispario and Gyza began wrapping it again. It was as hard as it was last time, but he didn't mind.  
"You poor child. Your skin hasn't even finished hardening... This wouldn't have done so much damage had you been just a few years older. This may never heal as it should..."  
Hearing this brought Iris to a halt and she glanced back. "It... Wont?"  
"I mean, it'll scar over, but your skin is pretty mangled back here..."  
She turned her head back to look at Rispario, seeing a little fall of water coming in through the cracks of the vine wall. She could see herself in the reflection. It wasn't a good mirror, but it was enough that she could see the red gashes of her back. Her whole upper back looked like someone took a giant cheese grater to it. This just made it hurt worse... She brought her hand back to feel of the gashes, and she was horrified.  
"Try not to touch it, we just washed it. Now, give us just a moment and we'll have it wrapped up."  
She did not reply- for she was too shocked and too traumatized when she realized the extent of her damage. She looked forward again, absentmindedly holding onto the bandage for Rispario as he repeated his work from earlier that day. She felt her eyes well up in tears. Just what will the damage be like when it scars over? Will it ever go away? Will the skin even harden there? A tear dripped down her face and she just started to cry again. This caught Rispario by surprise and he and Gyza stopped.  
"Oh no, did we jab a sensitive spot?"  
She ne'er gave him a reply. Iris just sobbed and huffed, wiping her face. After a while, Rispario noticed it as a cry of sadness rather than pain. He tossed what remained of the bandage over her shoulder and he hopped up there and pat his hand on her face.  
"Hey, hey... It'll be okay... It'll heal up, yeah?"  
"I'll be a freak after this! I-I wont even be able to grow leaves out on my back! A-and I-I'll be v-vulnerable and weak there!"  
Rispario pet her shoulder sadly. "You're still alive though, that's what matters. You'll be okay, alright? You can stay here till you heal, and I'll stick around till you can handle yourself, alright?"  
She sniffled and wiped her face. "Y-you'd do that for m-me...?" she cried. "W-why?"  
"Because I care. I can't leave a child on her own injured! Let me get this taken care of. After that, I think you should get yourself some rest..."  
She nodded, though continued to cry. Rispario went back to wrapping her back up with Gyza's help. After that, he sent her off to a hole at the back of the dome. In it was a small tunnel way that lead to a smaller dome. It had a nice little skylight torn in through the side, but it was closing over in vines over time it seemed. Gyza had gone back here with Iris to show her the way. This room looked like a nest of sorts with piles and piles of grass and leaves, and even some old blankets under the nesting. It was clear someone used to live here. After examining the area, she finally found herself a spot to get comfortable. She piled up some blankets like a pillow and rested on her side in the bed of leaves and grass. Over time, some live grass had grown in here, giving a softer bed to lay on in the leaves.

She huddled up under some leaves and buried her face against her arm, sniffling as she did. Nothing could get rid of the pain she was currently feeling. But... She did feel at ease here at least. Something about this place made her feel a bit more at home. She shut her eyes, listening to the woods outside- knowing that she was safe here and that no human could harm her again this far in the woods... She peeked outside, wondering just what she'd do once Rispario left? She uttered a small thank you and sighed... These were some scars that'd definitely stay with her all her life- both physically and in memory. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to trust another human ever again. But time could only tell... For now, she accepted the peace she was given under the hospitality of this kind little minish.


End file.
